


Power

by amiablecrow



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Character Study, Colonialism, Cora Harper Loyalty Mission Spoilers, Elaadin Water Supply Mission Spoilers, Ethical Dilemmas, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 04:38:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10801884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amiablecrow/pseuds/amiablecrow
Summary: A quiet moment after finding the Asari ark.The questions we all have about what kind of people we are.





	Power

Cora feels like she's going to vibrate out of her skin. If she was the kind of person who paced, she'd be pacing right now, but she's spent a lifetime working in the cramped confines of shipboard quarters. On a normal day, she'd let any nervous energy left over after her workout flow into the plants she tends to in the hydroponics lab.

Today is not a normal day, so she's at a workstation with her fists clenched in her hair. Not that it helps.

Soft footsteps echo across the metal floor. Ryder is light on her feet, completely silent when she moves across the battlefield, but on the ship Cora can always hear her coming.

"You know," says Ryder, as she leans against the edge of the desk, "I can hear you beating yourself up from halfway across the ship." 

Cora lets go of her hair. Makes a fist. Sets it down against the desk. "Guess we can't all have a stealth grid ready when we need to think."

Picking up a half-empty coffee cup and moving it away from Cora, the younger woman asks "Did you spike this? Please tell me you spiked this. I find alcohol is much better than caffeine, post-'Big Decisions.' You didn't hear that from me."

"Any advice on rolling back the clock?" asks Cora, feeling a little hysterical. "Do today over again without having a Pathfinder stripped of everything she loves?"

Silence, of course. Ryder's words come a mile a minute when she's trying to fill up awkward spaces, but she chooses her words carefully when it counts. Does Cora even know what the right words are any more? Everything she's learned from Sarissa's combat journals, suddenly under as much scrutiny as the disgraced ex-Pathfinder herself.

"You're doing the thing again." 

"What thing?" asks Cora tiredly. She doesn't have the energy to deal with Ryder's tendency to talk in circles.

Another pause. Cora looks over at the Pathfinder, who appears to be staring intently at the cold coffee. 

"Ryder?" asks Cora, concerned now.

"Do you remember what we did to Annea on Elaadin?"

The abrupt change in topic throws her, but... "The Angaran gang leader who ran the port. She had her people attack us when we found the underground water supply she was hoarding."

"You were there," Ryder agrees. "She tried to bribe us to keep it a secret. Do you know why I refused?"

"Sure," says Cora slowly, "It's a desert planet. A steady supply of water ensures the future of our colony with the Krogans there. Also," and she chuckles a bit at this, "You're honourable to a fault."

Ryder echoes the laugh, but it sounds hollow. "Maybe that's a problem I have, but I don't think so. Come on, Cora, you know what I think of Addison's tendency to go for the short-term easy solution, and damn the consequences later down the line. I would have let Annea keep her water, instead of ending up with a power vacuum. I might even have sent troops to help her protect it."

"And you would've fought Director Addison for it."

"No point, after the only Angaran presence on the planet went into hiding."

Cora pauses. "You're worried that if you keep secrets, someone will find out."

Ryder looks over at Cora, "Now—" she makes a vague fluttering gesture, "—in a hundred years. Everything we do creates precedent. We're starting something new here, and if we do it right, we'll be building something beautiful. But if we let corruption take hold, if we're willing to look the other way just because we want to hold on to our heroes—"

Cora ignores the dig. "You're not just worried about what people will think of their Pathfinders," she interrupts, looking straight at Ryder. "You _want_ someone to be able to stop you."

"I want our people to hold us accountable." 

There's silence for a minute. Ryder stares at the dregs of her coffee.

"I had a lot of faith in Sarissa," Cora admits. "I thought that if we found the Asari ark, everything would come together."

"They'll find their feet, just like we did," says Ryder, standing up and taking the coffee cup with her. "We pulled together and brought the Nexus back from the brink, established colonies, made allies. Soon everyone who came to Andromeda will be able to wake up in a new galaxy. We'll be okay."

"Ryder," says Cora. "I'm glad it was you."

Ryder pauses, looks back at her. "When I say I couldn't have done it without you," she says. "I really do mean it."

And Cora listens to those soft footsteps fade away.


End file.
